seminal
Definitions
Strongly influential and foundational; planting the seeds of later development.
开创性的，奠基性的（为后来的发展播下种子）。
Relating to seed or semen.
与种子或精液有关的。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedsemin (seed) + -al (relating to) = 'of the seed.' The everyday sense extends the metaphor: a seminal work contains the seeds of future development — later research, art, or thought grows out of it.
Root semen still carries 4 more wordsWhy It Means This
Why does 'of the seed' come to mean 'hugely influential'? Because we picture ideas like plants: a great work is the seed, and everything that follows is the harvest. Calling a study seminal says it didn't just succeed — it gave birth to a whole line of work after it.
Usage Guide
Register matters: seminal is high praise reserved for serious, lasting work — a seminal paper, album, or theory. It sounds odd applied to something trivial or short-lived. Also note it almost always describes work/ideas, not people.
Example Sentences
- 1.
Darwin's seminal work reshaped how we understand life on Earth.
- 2.
The album is now seen as a seminal influence on modern rock.
- 3.
Her 1990 paper was seminal, inspiring decades of follow-up studies.
Synonym Comparison
- seminal — foundational, plants the seeds others grow from
- groundbreaking — first to do something new; emphasizes novelty
- influential — broad; simply had a big effect, no 'origin' implication
- pioneering — first into new territory, like an explorer
- landmark — a clear turning point others measure against